We often like to ride the waves of ambiguity. Taking a stand leaves us open to criticism, dissension and fractured relationships. Remaining noncommittal lets us leave our options open. We see this even in the world of Facebook event invites. “Maybe” often constitutes the most popular response.
Yet Christ doesn’t leave us much room for ambiguity when it comes to our relationship to Him. He makes it clear that we are either for Him or against Him. A noncommittal response isn’t even an option. In the book of Revelation we see that the church of Laodecia was rebuked for being lukewarm – they weren’t on fire for God, yet they weren’t totally opposed to Him either. Christ’s says that this kind of church will be spit out. In other words, Christ is not ambivalent about our attempts at ambiguity. His concern is that we are totally committed to Him.
We see this in another passage as well. Matthew 7:21-24 is a passages that often causes people concern as Christ makes it clear that not everyone who claims to be a Christian is actually a follower of Him. He says that those who follow Him will do His will; those that don’t are workers of lawlessness.In 1 John 3:4, this same word,”lawlessness,” is equated with sin. So another way to think of this passage is to think that we are either laboring for Christ’s kingdom or we are laboring for the cause of sin. There are no other options. If we think that we can be noncommittal, Scripture indicates that a choice has already been made. If we are not investing our time, energy and resources in seeking and doing His will, we are investing them in things that are contrary to it.
We are often reluctant to make choices. We are afraid of what we might be giving up when we have to commit to one thing over the other. However, Scripture makes it clear that if we are laboring for the purpose of God’s kingdom, then that work will not be in vain. Choosing to invest in His Kingdom’s purpose isn’t giving something up then; it’s a gain.
